Primeiro Dia em Lisboa

Bom Dia!

I got a few hours sleep wearing the swank new pyjamas I got for my Paris trip--you know the ones on back order that didn't arrive in time.  I was too worn out yesterday to find a grocery store and food, but I did this morning and strolled around my neighborhood, Baxia, which is in the heart of the historic city.   

There were some things I forgot to mention yesterday.  Almost the first thing I do when flying internationally is find out the local time and then set my watch.  This time my watch refused to be set, and I broke several finger nails trying.  I'll just rely on my phone when I need to know the time.  The good news is that the USA is on the good list and a United States passport gets in the same line as European Union in Portugal and the Commonwealth in the UK.  Nice, what?

My apartment is very spacious.  I have a separate bedroom and here and there are traditional Portugese blue and white tile, which are original to the building, which dates from the Eighteenth Century.  The owners managed to put in a lift, so that's good.

There is a lot to see in Lisbon, and it's just fun to walk around.  I wondered if the city would remind me a bit of Vienna as both were once Imperial Capitals whose global reach has diminished drastically.  I visited a Museum of Antiquities located in the former Convent of Carmo.  One can get there by paying to take an elevator, but some of us use trips to Europe as our fitness plan so I walked uphill.  The church was devastated in the great earthquake of 1755.  One enters the museum through the roofless nave that now forms. courtyard sculpture garden.  The exhibits are labeled in English and range from prehistory up to the Renaissance.  Most of the exhibits are in the gothic chapels which survived the collapse.

I went on to see a church--the only one in Lisbon--that did survive the quake. Lisbon is hilly and to get there I walked down five flights of stairs.  I have a feeling I'm going to be going up and down a lot while I'm here. I crossed the plaza where I expected to arrive by the airport bus.  The church of Igreja San Roque is Iberian Renaissance style with an impressive vault and a glittering altarpiece.  The museum next door exhibits the art work from the church as well as relics.

I'm still jet lagged so this was about as much as I was good for.  I headed for home following Rua de Augusta from the Place do Dom Pedro V.  It's pedestrianized and provides much opportunity for window licking.

You got groceries, Pil.  What are we having for dinner?  And by the way, you don't speak Portuguese so how are you coping with the language?

Muy facile, amigos mios.  For one thing a lot of folks in Lisbon speak excellent English.  I cannot understand a word of spoken Portuguese, but I can read Spanish reasonably well, and so written Portuguese is pretty easy to figure out.  I had no trouble with the grocery store. I grabbed a bottle of red from the shelves.  It's vinho tinto from the Duoro Valley and is a protected denomination.  It's a pretty ruby color and smells nice. Sip. Very tasty, and not at all expensive.  Pro tip.  Always pack wine stoppers if you travel like I do.  I got some canned tuna, and before you turn up your nose and mutter Starkist at me, you need to know that Iberia is famous for its canned fish, and there are fancy shops in Lisbon that sell nothing else.  The quality is very high even for the grocery store stuff, but I am sure going to attend a fancy shop with vintage tins.  I got some Portuguese white cheese, which I semi melted on some toasted bread.  The bread is terrific by the way.  This improvised open face sandwich is lovely with the red wine.

Bye for now